Collapse of the richest. Barcelona is falling.

The highest-paid attack Messi – Suarez – Neymar failed again. The “invincible” team is in its biggest crisis in over a decade.

March 20, 2016. In their last two Spanish league matches, they stuffed ten goals past their opponents, cruised past Arsenal in the Champions League, and thanks to a draw with Villarreal, Catalan giant FC Barcelona extended their unbeaten run to 39 matches. The celebrated star trio Messi – Suarez – Neymar was destroying opponents and it seemed they were unstoppable.

April 17, 2016. Just a month later, the “invincible” club finds itself in its biggest crisis in more than a decade. They have lost three league matches in a row – something that last happened in 2003 – and were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid. The terror of opposing defenses, the highest-paid attack in the world, is almost toothless. According to the portal totalsportek, Messi, Suarez, and Neymar together earn 760,000 euros per week. Yet in their last three La Liga matches, only Messi has scored – and his goal could not prevent a shocking weekend defeat to Valencia 1–2.

Slump after the turnaround in El Clasico
Spanish media and experts we spoke to agree that the trigger for FC Barcelona’s slump in results was the highly watched El Clasico against eternal rival Real Madrid. At the start of this month, they lost 1–2 despite playing the last ten minutes with a man advantage after Sergio Ramos was sent off. “This match marked the beginning of the slump in results. The players came back after the international break, the South American attacking trio flew twice halfway around the world in just a few days. Since then, the team hasn’t been itself,” Peter Bellas, president of the official FC Barcelona fan club in Slovakia, told the Economic Daily.

Over the past few weeks, several unfortunate and unpleasant events have occurred for the Catalan club’s players, which may have affected their form. “Messi’s name appeared in the Panama Papers scandal, in the Champions League they suffered an unexpected elimination, and Neymar was mentioned in connection with a higher salary. These things piled up and could have influenced them,” said Jozef Tokos, sports analyst and football agent. The result of this unprecedented Barcelona collapse is the loss of their large lead at the top of Spain’s highest competition. Before the aforementioned El Clasico, Barcelona led the league by nine points over Atletico Madrid and by ten over Real Madrid; now they are level with Atletico on 76 points, and the “White Ballet” are only one point behind.

The cost of high salaries
The annual salary of the trio Messi – Suarez – Neymar represents almost one-third of the wage costs for all 28 players in the FC Barcelona squad. “That’s also why coach Luis Enrique and the team may be paying the price for having weak players on the bench. There’s almost no pressure on the starting lineup players – their places are virtually guaranteed,” said Bellas. In most other teams, coaches try to rotate the lineup and, also due to demanding international matches, occasionally let players rest. Not in Barcelona. “The coach might like to rest Messi or Neymar, but he doesn’t have an adequate replacement. A weak bench may be the price of the high salaries for the star attacking trio,” the Slovak fan club president explained.

He believes, however, that the team can break the crisis in the very next league match, when tomorrow Barcelona will play away at Deportivo La Coruna. Interestingly, it was against this opponent that the Catalan club drew 2–2 in December. “The team’s mindset is not in the best place. But if they don’t turn it around now, I don’t know when they will. I believe they can do it,” added Peter Bellas. The agent Tokos also believes this is only a short-term crisis for Messi and company, and that it’s only a matter of time before the goal machine of the star South American trio in Barcelona shirts starts running again.